Pro-gay bishop is top choice to lead Anglicans

London A nominating commission has picked Archbishop Rowan Williams of Wales as its first choice to be the new leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Church of England, The London Times has reported.

Among candidates for archbishop of Canterbury, Williams, 52, stands out for his liberal view on homosexual priests, the most divisive issue among the world’s 77 million Anglicans including U.S. Episcopalians.

In 1998, 82 percent of the world’s Anglican bishops opposed same-sex activity, but Williams declined to endorse that decision. Before the 1998 vote Williams had ordained a gay priest living with a partner, the London Telegraph said last month. After that report, Williams told an interviewer in Australia, “I am not convinced that a homosexual has to be celibate in every imaginable circumstance.”

In a related development, conservatives in Africa, Asia, Latin America, England, the United States and Canada are protesting approval of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples by the Anglican Church of Canada’s diocese for southwest British Columbia. Outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, shown above with Pope John Paul II, said the decision threatened Anglican unity, and he will raise the issue with an international council in September.

Community theater changes play after abbey shootings

Maryville, Mo. Next year, perhaps, a musical comedy about death in a Roman Catholic community will be funny again but not now.

The Nodaway Community Theater Co. canceled summer performances of “Nunsense” after a June 10 attack at nearby Conception Abbey in which a man shot dead two monks and wounded two others before killing himself.

“It’s not the time to be making fun of the faith,” said Jody Strauch, theater president.

The musical comedy focuses on five nuns’ efforts to raise money to bury four sisters who died of food poisoning.

The replacement production is the mystery “Murder in the Wings.” The troupe plans to produce “Nunsense” next year.

Lutheran Church-Mo. Synod orders big budget cuts

St. Louis The 2.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has ordered big cuts in its national budget for the fiscal year that began June 1. The $89.6 million is $10 million below the budget adopted a year ago and drops $9.1 million from budget requests by agencies.

The conservative denomination said elimination of some programs and staff is likely but details are undecided. Especially hard-hit is higher education, which had its request cut by $4 million.

Administrative officer Brad Hewitt said unrestricted income pledged for national programs, mostly from congregational offerings, is $25.6 million for the new fiscal year, compared with more than $50 million 20 years ago, adjusted for inflation.